The in-form batsman said India were given flat tracks for warm-ups in England and Australia, but the Tests were played on green-tops.

New Delhi:Virat Kohli seems to be a staunch believer in the proverb that you reap what you sow. While some in England have been cribbing about the absence of spinners in the opening tour game that England play against India A in Mumbai from Tuesday, Kohli feels that depriving the visiting team a chance to practise against quality tweakers ahead of the Test series is a good strategy.

Tactics play an integral role of the modern game and Kohli feels that there shouldn’t be any hue and cry if the Indians look to take advantage of home conditions.

“We were given the flattest of pitches during our tour games in England and Australia last season and the bowling attack comprised of pacers who hardly bowled around 120 kmph. Then when the Test series started, we were served green tops with quality fast bowlers. Was that fair?” Kohli said on Saturday.

“If the treatment dished out to us didn’t raise eyebrows, why can’t we play to our strength? If they wanted to be fair to us, they should have given us the same quality of pitches for the warm-up games like the ones that were used during the Test series. Due to the hectic scheduling, touring teams hardly get time to acclimatise. I feel they are being dished what they served us,” he said.

Chin music has always been the focal point of all discussion when the Indian team goes on a foreign tour, but Kohli doesn’t see much sense in it as he feels that every batsman in the world is vulnerable to quality bouncers.

“I have never understood this theory. No batsman in the world is comfortable against a good bouncer. But does that mean that greats like Sachin Tendulkar, VVS Laxman and Rahul Dravid were poor players of the short-pitched delivery? We almost won two series in Australia and have won a series in England in recent times. How did we do that? Even in the last series in Australia, how many batsmen were bounced out?" “When a batsman gets out to a good short-pitched delivery, the bowler should be given credit, rather than finding a chink in the batman’s armour. It is intriguing that when a batsman gets out repeatedly playing the cover drive, no one questions his dismissal. But getting out to a bouncer creates headlines,” Kohli, a good player of the short ball, said.

At a time when the Indian batting line-up has an uncertain look to it, Kohli has hit a purple patch. Asked about the secret behind his prolonged form, Kohli said that he tries to keep things simple.

“Rather than pondering about what is going wrong and what is going right, I try to keep it uncomplicated. Do the basics right and not think too much. Sometimes a batsman tries out numerous things during training and faces a completely different situation in the match. So I feel adapting according to the situation is much better than planning too much. Also, I like doing things my way and being in the zone ahead of a match,” he said.

Kohli feels that the upcoming Ranji match against Uttar Pradesh will provide him good practice ahead of the challenging series against England.

“I will use the match against UP to get into the zone and prepare for the Test series. I feel that England are going to pose a tough challenge and it will be fun playing against them,” he said.

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